Stories from Sunday, December 28, 2003

Area stores report brisk Christmas sales and relatively few returns. For some it's a result of internal changes and for others it's just a benefit of an expanding economy. Phil Vinyard, Vinyard's Farm and Home Supply, reports sales up 20 percent over last years for the same period. "That's a pretty significant increase and it's traffic through the door, not an increase in per purchase sales."...

This residence at 707 S. College St., Nevada, features an eloquent display of neatly spaced Christmas lighting ranging from St. Nick to the Nativity scene.

From staff and wire reports WASHINGTON -- On Friday USDA officials quarantined the offspring of the slaughtered Holstein cow that tested positive for BSE earlier this month and continue to look for more cases of the disease. The quarantine, which now includes herds at two Washington farms, was imposed even though officials said transmission of the disease from mother to calf is considered unlikely...

Doris Opal Smith, 92, Nevada, Mo., died Friday, Dec. 26, 2003, at Christian Health Care in Nevada following a lengthy illness. She was born Jan. 10, 1911, in Fulton, Kan., to Fred Eugene White and Laura Adline Higbie White. She married Ralph Hamblin Smith on Dec. 26, 1931 in Adrian, Mo. He preceded her in death on March 3, 1990...

Emma Verneal Love, 85, died Dec. 27, 2003, at Moore-Few Care Center. She was born Feb. 28, 1918, to Charles Ellis and Cora Amelia Simmons Maggard on a farm that her father homesteaded in Washington county in the eastern part of Colorado near Denova, which consisted of a post office and a country grocery store...

Hi neighbors. One big holiday left before we all turn over a new leaf (of our calendars at least) and start a new year. I guess we should use this week to think about 2003 before we start getting too excited about 2004. News reports and magazines will be telling us what the big news stories were in 2003 around the world...

100 Years Ago -- December 28, 1903 Reopening the Smelters! The works will be started about March 15 with nearly 100 men employed with a monthly payroll of $4,000. Several days ago A.B. Cockerill stated to the Mail that he intended to place the Nevada smelters in operation if the conditions were favorable for so doing...

As the firearm deer hunters put away their deer rifles for another year as the December part of the 2003 firearm deer season comes to an end, there is still a lot of hunting left including waterfowl in the middle and south zones. Quail, pheasant, squirrel, rabbit, goose and furbearers are still legal game and archers have until January 15 to bag deer and turkey...

The Tri-County chapter of American Family Association is pleased to announce the winners in their recent essay contest. The contest was open to all students in grades 6 through 12 in schools in Cedar, Saint Clair and Vernon Counties. There were 198 entries...

Seven Nevada Youth Wrestlers participated in the Warsaw Tournament on Saturday, December 20. All seven placed first or second in their brackets. Pictured are: (kneeling, in front) Chris Crews -- second. (standing) Todd Brier -- first , Zach Shepherd -- second, Scotty Bough -- second, Zane Shepherd -- first, and Sam Ellifrits, first. Not pictured was Spenser Daniels, who also placed first...